‘Iron Man 3’: Marvel again hogs opening weekend of blockbuster season

(Editor’s note: This is an updated version of an item I wrote for Weekender in May 2010. It’s interesting that almost nothing has changed in three years).

Maybe you’ve noticed: Hollywood has its own, warped calendar when it comes to summer movies. Yes, the real first day of summer doesn’t get here for six weeks, but blockbuster season officially starts the first Friday in May. Or lately, the first Thursday night in May.

It wasn’t always that way. Memorial Day weekend (or sometimes the weekend before it) used to be the semi-official kickoff date. Then “The Mummy” made a killing the first weekend of May 1999, even with the colossus that was “Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace” lurking on the horizon three weeks later. It has been that way ever since.

And lately, the first weekend in May has gone from the first Designated Blockbuster Weekend to Designated Marvel Comics Movie Blockbuster Weekend. Ever since “Spider-Man 3” in 2007, the season’s first biggie has been a Marvel Comics hero.

“Yikes, you’re ugly!” Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz started it all with “The Mummy” in 1999. (Getty Images)

It’s not just that the biggies start rolling out this weekend. Lately, May has been reserved for the Goliaths of the summer (the ones with a number or colon in the title), with the biggest of the big usually coming opening weekend.

Here’s a recap of recent summer openers. See if you can spot a telltale trend:

1999: “The Mummy” A still hunky Brendan Fraser and hot librarian Rachel Weisz started it all.

2000: “Gladiator” Director Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe got Oscar love as well as box-office love — a rarity for an early summer flick.

2001: “The Mummy Returns” Fraser and Weisz, aided by The Rock, were money in the bank again.

2002: “Spider-Man” The beginning of the Marvel takeover. Comic-book fans made the web-slinger’s debut the biggest May weekend ever — even more than “Phantom Menace.”

2003: “X2: X-Men United” Did even better than the original (July 2000).

2004: “Van Helsing” With this Dracula flick and two “X-Men” adventures, Hugh Jackman is the unofficial King of Opening Weekend. A respectable box-office showing, despite being pasted by the critics.

2005: “Kingdom of Heaven” The decade’s only box-office dud. Despite having heartthrob Orlando Bloom fresh off the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy and a bankable director (Scott), it earned less than $20 million opening weekend and $48 million total. That would pay for about 10 minutes of “Iron Man 2.”

2006: “Mission: Impossible 3” A minor box-office disappointment, which often happens to a franchise’s third movie, industry analysts noted.

2008: “Iron Man” Made almost $100 million opening weekend, which ensured we’d get a sequel. Critics liked it, too, which didn’t hurt.

2009: “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” (May 1), “Star Trek” (May 8) Since May began on a Friday, we essentially had two opening weekends — filled with a sequel and a prequel, which figures.

2010: “Iron Man 2” The sequel was a bit of a disappointment — critics pointed out some ridiculous plot holes — but of course it still made a boatload of money.

2011: “Thor” Chris Hemsworth’s hammering hero set the table for the biggest Marvel adventure of all. That would be, of course …

2012: “The Avengers” Hey, look! They got the band back together! The superhero supergroup movie earned a whopping $623 million domestically (third all time behind “Avatar” and “Titanic”) and dominated multiplexes for an entire month.

The success of “The Avengers” is one reason analyst Ray Subers of BoxOfficeMojo.com is expecting big things from “Iron Man 3.”

“When the second entry in a franchise is poorly received,” he wrote, “that typically indicates that the third movie will see a decline in domestic box office. ” ‘Iron Man 3’ should be able to buck this trend, though, since it’s technically a follow-up to ‘The Avengers.’ ”

And Marvel’s domination is set to continue in 2014, when “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” opens May 2. While I was stoked to see “The Avengers” last year and am at least moderately interested in “Iron Man 3,” you’ll have to forgive me for being less enthused about a sequel to a reboot.